Illumination : More or less an epilogue well written

1400 sq. ft of bamboo chatai , 20000 diyas ,100  people with 100 candles struggle to create a magnum opus , of type and degree rarely cherished . Epic mesmerization and clamour to get shot with a quality lens remains the talk of the evening . Almost 3000 and more than that photographs selfies and non-selfies are taken with an illuminating background in a span of 3 hours.

Nothing has changed over the year except the sincerity to contribute towards this illuminating background. Nothing has changed over the year except the enthusiasm to create this masterpiece .

Illumination has always remained a cultural instrument to be forwarded by a generation to the next  since more than 30 years ( arguably 35 ). I , as an individual have been quite a near sight observant of this since last four years and I have realized that there has been a rapid change in the universe minus illumination over these four years . There has been rise and rise of social networking , technological advancement in cellular phone , market adoption of android & windows , Samsung & Apple , introduction of friendly texting base like whatsapp, Hike and etc . Even I have dumped my NOKIA 2626 and put my leg in advanced and not far lagging behind the time shoes.
Over the years I have seen people's diligence towards illumination receding . People have started debating on the contexts of Illumination , its largeness  being questioned by the system and the residents . Questions like  " is it worth spending a huge amount of money and time on Illumination " has trended time and again on social forum.

Azad's Illumination depicting weathering of institute logo 

While its quite vivial to recognize a receding enthusiasm and motive towards the work  , lack of any competition and recognition for the temperament also got diluted as the system decided to scrap the judging fundamentalism from the event . However some halls  proved their worth , attempted and produced spirit sans any competition . Some halls tried to depict the dying culture of Illumination ,through Illumination . While RK's work deserves mention for pretension of  its unchanged attitude over the year as well as for being the background of most of the profile pictures and facebook photos being uploaded since morning ,Azad deserves a mention for the satire .

More over what should matter the most to a rational society is : survival of an art . Art is long , life is short . Illumination is an art , at times more than just an art . Its diligence multiplied by intelligence .It deserves a survival , not much attainable over the years . More or less an epilogue of Illumination  is being written . Years hence , generations to come will scarce believe that such a thing like‪#‎ILLumination‬ existed at IIT Kharagpur.

Before I conclude I would prefer to quote one of my versatile senior Khare da 

RK's mesmerising depiction of Gitopdesh.

The lights go out & lamps takeover.
There's art outside, there's art inside...
The campus seems enchanted.

The Sorcerers unite for their annual sacrifice.
There's magic in the air on Diwali night...

Worth & value is a tag for the real.
How could we attempt to extend it to magic ?

It's not the money that's spent, it's not the time that's invested.
It's the activated spirit of collective creation
that distills this magic into our reality.


.................................................................................................

PS 1 : credits to photographers corresponding

PS2 : Respect for two of our captains Kanishak & Abhishek Prakash for such a nice conclusive art. Love and lots of love to all second ,third ,fourth ,fifth ,sixth ,seventh years  who worked behind and in front of the scene .

Good night in advance for a prefered time .